Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

Hi, everyone! I’m Jaehwi. Welcome back to KoreanClass101.com. From today, we will be teaching you very useful words and phrases about the upcoming winter olympics. And in this video, we will start with how to read PyeongChang like a native. Let’s begin!
1. 평창 (pyeongchang) “PyeongChang”
Okay, the first one is 평창 (pyeongchang), 평 (pyeong) 창 (chang) which means “PyeongChang”. PyeongChang is the city which we’ll have the 2018 Winter Olympics this week. So I heard that some people are saying PyeongChang or PyeongChang, but the correct pronunciation is 평창 (pyeongchang). So you have to make sure to say “a” sound clearly in the second syllable like 평창 (pyeongchang), 평창 (pyeongchang). That’s the correct pronunciation for the city to have 2018 Winter Olympics.
So in a sentence, we can say - 평창 올림픽 로고는 평창의 첫 자음, ㅍ과 ㅊ으로 디자인되었습니다. (Pyeongchang ollimpik rogoneun pyeongchangui cheot jaeum, pgwa cheuro dijaindoeeotseumnida.) “The PyeongChang Olympics logo was designed as PyeongChang's first consonants in Korean, pieup, and chieut.”
So when you see the logo, you can see that kind of sign which looks like Greek temples like they have columns and everything. That might be true, but it also is from the consonant ㅍ(pieup) which is for “p” sound because PyeongChang has that kind of consonant. And the other one looks like a star. For me, it looks like that is for the consonant ㅊ(chieut) which is for “ch” sound because PyeongChang, the second syllable has ㅊ chieut sound. So ㅍ (pieup), ㅊ(chieut), that’s what you can find in the logo because that is the first consonants of the word PyeongChang.
2. 동계올림픽 (donggyeollimpik) “Winter Olympics”
Next we have 동계올림픽 (donggyeollimpik), 동계올림픽 (donggyeollimpik) “Winter Olympics”.
So here we have the word 동계 (donggye). That can be used when the event is kind of seasonal like there are two different types of olympics; one is in summer and the other is in winter. So in that case, we have to use the word like 동계 (donggye) which literally means “winter season” or 하계 (hagye) which literally means “summer season”, not using 계올 (gyeol) or 여름 (yeorum) which means “winter” and “summer” in general. So that’s why we call 동계올림픽 (donggyeollimpik) which literally means “Winter Season Olympics”, not like 계올림픽 (gyeollimpik) although that means “Winter Olympics”.
In a sentence we can say - 2018년 동계올림픽은 평창에서, 2020년 하계올림픽은 도쿄에서 열립니다. (2018nyeon donggyeollimpigeun pyeongchangeseo, 2020nyeon hagyeollimpigeun dokyoeseo yeollimnida.) “The 2018 Winter Olympics will be held in PyeongChang, and the 2020 Summer Olympics will be held in Tokyo.”
3. 강원도 (gangwondo) “Gangwon Province”
Next we have 강원도 (gangwondo) “Gangwon Province”. So 강원 (gangwon) is the name of the province and 도 (do) is used to mean something like province in South Korean. So when you say the name of this province, make sure to say 강 (gang) 원 (won) 도 (do), not like gangwondo. I can see some foreigners, they say G-A-N-G as “gang”, but in Korean, you have to say 강 (gang) with a strong “a” sound. So make sure to say 강 (gang) 원 (won) 도 (do), 강원도 (gangwondo), not like gangwondo. When you look up the map, you can see the province on the northern east part of South Korea. Since there are a lot of high mountains, it also has a lot of coldest cities in South Korea. For example, PyeongChang, the city to have olympics, and 강릉 속초 (Gangneung Sokcho) and the other cities too. That’s why you can easily find ski resorts of South Korea in that province.
In a sentence, we can say - 강원도는 한국에서 가장 추운 도시들이 모여있습니다. (gangwondoneun hangugeseo gajang chuun dosideuri moyeoitseumnida.) “Gangwon Province has the coldest cities in Korea.”
4. 강릉 (gangneung) “Gangneung”
Next we have 강릉 (gangneung), 강 (gang) 릉 (neung) “Gangneung”.
So the same thing like if you want to pronounce it correctly, make sure to say 강 (gang) for the first syllable, not like gang. I can hear some people say Gangneung in some different way, but when you see G-A-N-G, you have to say 강 (gang) in Korean. So 강릉 (gangneung) is the correct way to say the name of this city. And although it has the consonant ㄹ (rieul) which is for “l” sound, when we say it, we change it to “n” sound so it becomes 강릉 (gangneung), not gangleung.
In a sentence, we can say - 하키와 스케이트 경기는 강릉에서 열릴 예정입니다. (hakiwa seukeiteu gyeonggineun gangneungeseo yeollil yejeongimnida.) which means “Hockey and skating competitions will be held in Gangneung.”
5. 알펜시아 (alpensia) “Alpensia”
Next we have 알펜시아 (alpensia), 알 (al) 펜 (pen) 시아 (sia), “Alpensia”.
So as you know, you can find a lot of ski resort in Gangwon Province and one of the big ski resorts is called 알펜시아 (alpensia). The correct way to say is 알 (al) 펜 (pen) 시아 (sia), “Alpensia”. You can for sure say Alpensia or in different way, but if you want to sound like a Native Korean, you can say 알펜시아 (alpensia).
So in a sentence, we can say - 알펜시아는 "알프스"라는 의미의 독일어 단어 "알펜"과 아시아를 합쳐 만든 단어로, 아시아의 알프스라는 의미입니다. (alpensianeun "alpeuseu" raneun uimiui dogireo daneo "alpen" gwa asiareul hapchyeo mandeun daneoro, asiaui alpeuseuraneun uimiimnida.) “Alpensia is a word made by combining the German word "Alpen," which means "Alps," and Asia, so it means the Alps of Asia.”
So 알펜시아 (alpensia) “Alpensia” is of course in Gangwon Province, 강원도 (gangwondo) and it is also near the city PyeongChang. Since it’s a ski resort, it’s going to hold a lot of skiing competitions. So if you’re a big fan of ski, you can probably try to stay at the resort or around this resort so that you can enjoy all the competitions.
Okay so you just learned how to say PyeongChang like a native speaker. If you find any Korean words not easy to pronounce, let us know in a comment. If you like this video, make sure to click the like or subscribe and visit our website, KoreanClass101.com. I’ll see you in the next video. 다음 시간에 뵙겠습니다. (Daeum sigane boepgetsseumnida.) 안녕히 계세요. (Annyeonghi gyeseyo.)

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